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Laser Physics

Detection and spectral measurement of single photons in communication bands using up-conversion technology

Long Ma, Oliver Slattery, Xiao Hong Tang

Published Apr 2, 2010• 11 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum information systems are commonly operated in conventional communication bands (1310 and 1550 nm) over an optical fiber to take advantage of low transmission loss. However, the detection and spectral measurement of single photons in these communication bands are limited due to high noise and low sensitivity of single photon detectors in the wavelength ranges. To demonstrate high efficiency detection and high sensitivity spectral measurement, we have implemented a single photon detector and a spectrometer based on frequency up-conversion technology. This detector and spectrometer uses a 5-cm periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide and a tunable pump laser around 1550 nm, to convert signal photons around 1310 to 710 nm. The converted photons are then detected by a silicon-based avalanche photodiode (APD). The overall detection efficiency of the single photon detector is as high as 32%, which is three times higher than commercial InGaAs APDs. The sensitivity of the spectrometer is measured to be −126 dBm, which is at least three orders-of-magnitude better than any commercial optical spectrum analyzer in this wavelength range.

DOI
10.1134/s1054660x1009032x

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Quantum information systems are commonly operated in conventional communication bands (1310 and 1550 nm) over an optical fiber to take advantage of low transmission loss. However, the detection and spectral measurement of single photons in these communication bands are limited due to high noise and low sensitivity of single photon detectors in the wavelength ranges. To demonstrate high efficiency detection and high sensitivity spectral measurement, we have implemented a single photon detector and a spectrometer based on frequency up-conversion technology. This detector and spectrometer uses a 5-cm periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide and a tunable pump laser around 1550 nm, to convert signal photons around 1310 to 710 nm. The converted photons are then detected by a silicon-based avalanche photodiode (APD). The overall detection efficiency of the single photon detector is as high as 32%, which is three times higher than commercial InGaAs APDs. The sensitivity of the spectrometer is measured to be −126 dBm, which is at least three orders-of-magnitude better than any commercial optical spectrum analyzer in this wavelength range.
We developed a spectrometer for signals at single photon levels in the near infrared (NIR) region based on a tunable up-conversion detector. This detector uses a 5-cm periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide to convert NIR photons to a shorter wavelength that are then detected by a silicon avalanche photodiode. The sensitivity of this spectrometer is -126 dBm, which is three orders-of-magnitude higher than any commercial optical spectrum analyzer in this wavelength range. Additionally, we use two PPLN waveguides to implement a polarization-independent up-conversion spectrometer, and use it to study a fiber-based quantum communication system.
This paper describes the detection of single photons, which have been transmitted through standard fiber at the telecom wavelength of 1310 nm. Following transmission, the 1310-nm photon is up-converted to 710 nm in a periodical-poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) waveguide and then detected by a silicon-based avalanche photodiode (Si-APD). The overall detection efficiency of the detector is 20%. We have also characterized the sensitivity of the PPLN's efficiency to temperature and wavelength changes. We focused on the noise property of the up-conversion detector. Without classical channel co-propagation, the dark count rate is 2.2 kHz, which is lower than current up-conversion detectors by more than one order of magnitude. The up-conversion detector is then applied to a QKD system, which is characterized and is shown to have a very strong performance.
We developed low-noise up-conversion single photon detectors for 1310 nm based on a periodically-poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) waveguide. The low-noise feature is achieved by using a pulsed optical pump at a wavelength longer than the signal wavelength. The detectors were used in a quantum key distribution (QKD) systems based on polarization encoding, measurement for entangled photon pairs and spectrum measurement at single photon levels. In this paper, the overall detection efficiency and noise level of the detectors are characterized and the polarization and wavelength sensitivity of the detection efficiency is analyzed. The applications of this detector in quantum information systems are also described.
We propose a method of single photon detection of infrared (IR) photons at potentially higher efficiencies and lower noise than allowed by traditional IR band avalanche photodiodes (APDs). By up-converting the photon from the IR, e.g. 1550 nm, to a visible wavelength in a nonlinear crystal, we can utilize the much higher efficiency of silicon APDs at these wavelengths. We have used a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal and a pulsed 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser to perform the up-conversion to a 631 nm photon. We observed conversion efficiencies as high as ∼ 80%, and demonstrated scaling down to the single photon level while maintaining a background of 3 ×s; 10−4 dark counts per count. We also propose a 2-crystal extension of this scheme, whereby orthogonal polarizations may be up-converted coherently, thus enabling complete quantum state transduction of arbitrary states.
We propose a method of single photon detection of infrared (IR) photons at potentially higher efficiencies and lower noise than allowed by traditional IR band avalanche photodiodes (APDs). By up-converting the photon from the IR, e.g. 1550 nm, to a visible wavelength in a nonlinear crystal, we can utilize the much higher efficiency of silicon APDs at these wavelengths. We have used a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal and a pulsed 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser to perform the up-conversion to a 631 nm photon. We observed conversion efficiencies as high as ∼ 80%, and demonstrated scaling down to the single photon level while maintaining a background of 3 ×s; 10−4 dark counts per count. We also propose a 2-crystal extension of this scheme, whereby orthogonal polarizations may be up-converted coherently, thus enabling complete quantum state transduction of arbitrary states.
We have developed a polarization independent (PI) spectrometer based on frequency up-conversion technology for single photon level spectrum measurement at the fiber communication band. To overcome the polarization dependence of the frequency up-conversion process, we use two periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguides with a polarizing beam splitter. We experimentally study the sensitivity and resolution of the PI up-conversion spectrometer. We demonstrate the spectrometer by way of a spectrum measurement of a single photon level signal in the communication band.